Salad Bar Savvy article form WW.com

It's just lettuce and some vegetables, right? Wrong. Some of today's salad bars are mini buffets, dishing out everything from fried chicken strips to macaroni salad to mozzarella balls marinated in flavored oil. If you're not careful with your pickings, what could be a healthy, fresh flavorful meal can turn into a high POINTS® values nightmare—and we haven't even talked about dressings yet!

Topping
Measurement
POINTS Value

Grilled, skinless chicken
1/2 cup
3

Seasoned croutons
1/2 cup
2

Raw broccoli florets
1/2 cup
0

Chopped bacon
3 slices
4

Sliced avocado
1/4 cup
2

Canned chickpeas
1/2 cup
2

Cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup
0

Shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup
3

Creamy white dressing
2 Tbsp
4

Balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp
0

We all know that fast food ranks low when it comes to nutritious eating. But how many of us know that some salads can be worse for them than a burger and fries? There are wise salad choices. Use the information below to see how salad bar items measure up and to learn how to keep your bowl on the light side.

What's in Yours? Here are the POINTS values for seven pre-made salads often doled out by the scoopful:

Half cup of…
POINTS Value

Shrimp salad
3

Three-bean salad
3

Potato salad
4

Macaroni salad
6

Chicken salad
6

Tuna salad
7

Egg salad
8

And some ready-made salads:

3 cups of…
POINTS Value

Chef's salad, with dressing
6

Caesar salad, with dressing
7

Greek salad, with dressing
9

Spinach salad, with dressing
10

Dressings are often where the calories add up:

2 tablespoons of…
POINTS Value

Balsamic or red wine vinegar
0

Fat-free Italian salad dressing
0

Fat-free salad dressing (not Italian)
1

Reduced-calorie Italian dressing
1

Reduced-calorie dressing
2

Creamy salad dressing
4

Italian-type salad dressing
4

When you're in a rut, give your salad a boost with a small amount of crunchy or highly flavored items:

For a POINTS value of 1 you can have…

Amount

Sesame seeds
1 Tbsp

Sliced water chestnuts
1/2 cup

Dried cranberries
2 Tbsp

Chopped avocado
2 Tbsp

Fried noodles
2 Tbsp

Crumbled feta cheese
5 tsp

Imitation bacon bits
2 Tbsp

Olives
10 large

And don't forget that fresh vegetables have a POINTS value of 0 per serving. They're loaded with fiber, which can help you feel full, and packed with nutrients. And make sure to include some fat in your salad since you need fat to absorb any of the fat-soluble vitamins the vegetables may contain.

Salad Bar Strategies
Look for beads of oil. If the container of peppers or chickpeas has oil droplets floating on the top, you know they've been marinated in something fattening. Each teaspoon of oil has a POINTS value of 1, which can add up quickly.

Look for fresh or raw items instead. Or take a small spoonful of the marinated item and mix it in with the rest of your salad, using the oil as dressing.

Pay attention to shape. Small pieces of foods can be mixed into a salad much easier than items that are whole or in big strips. You can get more flavor with each bite while using a lesser amount of fattening foods. Look for shredded cheese, not cubes; sliced or slivered almonds, not whole ones; and crumbled bacon, not roughly broken slices.

Make tasty compromises.

Looking for crunch? Swap chopped apples for croutons. Want something more exciting than plain, grilled chicken? Opt for barbecued strips; not fried ones.

Hate the store's low-fat or fat-free dressings? Keep your favorite low POINTS value dressing or flavored vinegar at your office.

Love cheese? Go for soft varieties like crumbled feta and goat cheese since ounce for ounce, they're lower in calories than hard cheeses like Swiss and Cheddar.

Ask for dressing on the side. This way you control how much you eat. Some of the ladles used to portion out dressing can hold as much as 1/4 cup. That's 4 tablespoons—the equivalent of a POINTS value of 9 if it's a creamy dressing.

Eat more filling items. A little protein and fat can do wonders for appetite control, so make sure your bowl contains more than just lettuce and fat-free dressing. Plus, items like beans and lean animal protein are nutrition powerhouses. For a POINTS value of 2, you can have:

1/2 cup of shelled edamame

1/2 cup of chickpeas

1/2 cup of teriyaki tofu

3 ounces of shrimp

2 ounces of skinless chicken breast

1 large egg